A visit; a photo exhibit; quaint cafe's; Camden Town!

Last week we had a visit from Luke & Luciana Thornton from Anthony, KS. Luke works at Harper Industries where Ed used to be. Luke was in Europe for work related things and was able to bring his wife, Luciana, with him. He and Luciana married in August (I think that's right). Luciana is in her last year of Pharmacy school, doing her rotations at hospital pharmacy's. She has November and December off and so was able to join Luke on this trip. We had spent the day at Spitalfields market, a place where there are mostly clothing items designed and constructed by the people who are in the stalls. Some of the designers "make it" and move on to a better venue and others are hoping for the same. Luciana was excited to find a man who was showing wool coats that she liked. He didn't have her size so he fitted her and said he would have it done in 48hrs and meet them at the train station before they were to head home.

Ed & I went to our third Photography exhibition at the Natural History Museum. Shell sponsors this competition where the photography is of wildlife and has different age categories. One of my favorites was actually in the 10-15 year old category. After seeing the exhibit, we stopped at a French cafe for these large coffee's....I actually had hot chocolate. A very nice way to warm up out of the cold drizzle.

On our way home, we stopped at the Camden Town Markets. Every time I go, which has been about six times now, I find another part of the market that I haven't seen before. Here we are under the streets and canals where there are small little stalls along long hallways. We were able to pick up a couple of Christmas presents.

Autumn leaves

Now that the leaves are mostly shed from the trees we can see Whittington hospital from our back yard. This is where we go to give blood, do lab work, or to be seen in the A&E (accident & emergency).

Ed and I worked in the garden on Saturday raking the leaves. It's a big job as we have so many trees. I helped for awhile but my arms felt like they were screaming so I had to quit sooner than Ed.

Other than the fallen leaves, it doesn't really look like Autumn. Many of the shrubs will retain their leaves all winter here.

I don't know if I ever have showed a picture of our train in our back garden. Somewhere along the years past, someone decided to shape the hedge into this train. It used to be a couple of feet taller but I told Ed it was too dangerous to trim and made him shorten it up.

House in the Rockies available!

I just realized that some of the comments that have been entered on some older posts was not published correctly and they aren't showing in the comment section. Sorry about that to you who sent those in. They are now published.

If anyone knows of a family, couple, or a single person who would like to live in a new home in the Colorado Rockies for a year or so then have them contact us. We thought we had someone who was going to live there from Jan 09 for a year but that has not panned out. We would really love to have someone live there to take care of the place. We do have two families that look in on it regularly but it is so much better if someone is actually living there. We would rather have someone we know or at least someone we know, knows. All we ask is for them to take care of it and to pay the utility bills. No rent other than upkeep. So if you know of anyone that needs time off, a sabbatical, a change of scenery, even if it's not for the whole year we would welcome people for a few weeks, months, or whatever.

Just know that it is also available for vacations. We would require that you leave it clean (launder your sheets & towels and remake the beds) and general clean up (vacuuming, put dishes away, clean bathrooms). Get in contact with us via email: ed55shirk@yahoo.com

November 15th...a special day.

First off....Happy Birthday to my oldest sister Rosie!

We have been rather busy at the Centre and so have not been out and about to take any pictures lately. Besides the guest rooms getting a lot of use, the Prayer Hut and Library have been busier than usual. There have been different groups using our meeting space and we have had several seminars recently. We have been "on duty", 24/7 for several weeks now. But, we meet such wonderful people that, what we do, doesn't always feel much like work.

Ed has been working on the Centre's fund raising campaign and filling in as co director while the director and his wife are in North America on a three month assignment for Mission Network. That plus all his regular jobs. I've tried to help him some with the yard work which has left me with some sore muscles. With all these trees the leaf raking is a constant job.

I wish we had more guest room space as I have to turn people away frequently. There are many people who are on their way to or from mission assignments that need to stay over in London. It's always interesting to hear their stories.

We only have 15 months left on our term here in London, so if anyone of our readers from home were planning on visiting, make your plans soon!

Fireworks

Guy Fawkes Day has come and gone, and there were some spectacular fireworks at a nearby palace but we knew that there would be thousands and thousands of people there and I didn't want to be shoulder to shoulder with them. So we climbed up on our roof and watched them from there. We couldn't hear the music but we could see them fairly well.

When we took a trip to York this summer we found the house that Guy Fawkes was born in.

The weather here has been dreary and rainy. Very much what I thought London would be like but hasn't been until the last six months.

We had Krista Ehst over for supper tonight. She is a Goshen College Graduate from Pennsylvania who is here for six months doing an internship with the Anabaptist Network. The Franconia conference has sent her to work with and report on the Urban Expression churches and their outreaches in East London. These are missional churches that are trying to draw in new people to Christ as well as those who have become disillusioned with the institutional church. The hope is for her to take some of these ideas back to the States to see if they will work there.

Victoria & Albert Museum

The London Mennonite Centre is a charity. And as with many charities, there are times when the bottom line doesn't look so good. Such is the case with the LMC. The programmes and activities at the Centre have changed and taken on different forms over it's 55 year history and now the Board of Trustees are having to make some decisions as to how the Centre can run more efficiently.

There are many people who have been positively affected by the LMC and want to see it continue. We are hoping for a positive response to our fund raising appeal that we are sending out this month and we covet your prayers for this appeal and for our staff, trustees, and programmes.

Here are a few pictures from a recent trip to the V&A (Victoria & Albert) museum in London. This is from the stained glass room.

This is an artists sculpture of Samson slaying the thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey at Ramath Lehi (Judges 15)

Daily prayers and a surprise snow fall.

Monday through Friday we have a short time of what we call Prayers. Right before lunch anyone in the house is welcomed to attend. We usually have a liturgical reading followed by prayers and end with a blessing. We take turns leading this and Phyllis is doing her part on this particular week.

We had a surprise last Thursday with some snow. It has been rare that London gets snow at all and especially as early as October. It was quite beautiful however. The past couple of weeks has given Ed and I plenty of opportunities to have theological discussions on many levels. We've had one of the LMC's counsel members visiting our library in preparation for a seminar he is speaking at and over coffee and tea breaks there have been good discussions. We've had numerous guests that have also joined in on our break times which have led to talks about their work for the church and a few days ago a guest that talked about why he has left the church. He is from Northern Ireland and it was intriguing to visit with him about his views and to answer all his questions about the Mennonites and Anabaptism.

October happenings

This is outside of our bedroom on the small balcony.

Here we are having a coffee with John and Naomi Lederach at Kenwood House. John & Naomi were at the LMC doing a project for the Board of Trust of the LMC for about four weeks and we had a great time with them while they were here. They are now back in Goshen where they live.

Ed & I took a leisurely walk along the South Bank of the Thames a few weeks ago. Ed is enjoying the music.

More pictures from Slovenia and an interesting question.

When you work at a resource Centre that has theologins hanging around studying and such, you are most likely going to come into contact with these people during the course of the day. Today out of the blue, one of these types stopped me in the lobby and asked me "okay Phyllis, just off the top of your head without thinking about the question much, what would you say is the problem with the church"? Of course I couldn't give an answer without asking a question which he didn't want but I asked "the Mennonite church or the 'church' in general? I guess the church in general, he says.
So what would you say? My latest 'religous' type book that I've been reading I'm sure had a large influence on my answer. The book is The shaping of things to come by Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch. It talks about Innovation and Mission for the 21st century Church. So having to say something quickly I said that I felt the church has a tendency to be too institutional and not enough mission focused.

So let me know what you think.

Just some pictures I like

These are a few pictures that I don't think I have put on the blog but I like them and they are more "artsy" type pictures.



They were all taken on our trip to Slovenia.
With all the busy-ness here I have still been able to find time to do some mind stimulating reading....something other than a novel. There is a lot of seminars and books in the UK about "The Emerging Church". The book I'm reading now...The shape of things to come...is about this Emerging Church. The idea of church being missional rather than institutional. I'm only a short way through but the ideas are very provoking. I'd be interested in hearing from any of you who have read anything on this subject.

Autumn 2008 programmes & etc.

This Autumn at the LMC has been quite busy and sometimes it's hard to believe that it's late October. We've had two Cross-Currents seminars at the Centre. September 27 we hosted representatives from three organizations working to reduce violence in Israel: Christian Peacemaker Teams, Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine Israel, and the International Solidarity Movement. The tag line....Violence is never the only way.

Then on 11 October two representatives of "Workshop" presented a taster day. Workshop is a one year long Christian learning programme where you commit one weekend a month to this programme.

A new Christian training programme called Crucible has begun which meets for three different weekends and has a different emphasis each time: "Creating New Churches" "The Urban Challenge" & "Emerging Church".

The Bridge Builders' department has begun their revised course this week "Transforming Church Conflict", which anyone can attend but mostly it is geared towards church workers.
I personally do a lot of administrative work for the Bridge Builders department so along with that, the guest rooms upkeep, and meals for the seminars & courses held at the Centre, I have been quite busy.

Ed has been busy helping to create a new fund raising brochure, all the usual work he does around the centre, plus stepping in as co-director while Vic & Kathy Thiessen have gone back to North America for three months.

The past three weeks, John & Naomi Lederach have been at the Centre conducting a project for the Board of Trustees. They have now completed the project (they worked very hard on this) and now will use the next 3-4 days to see some of London. It has been a very special treat for us to have them around, getting reacquainted and doing fun things with them.

We've been here for more than 20 months now and in some ways I am just starting to feel in the groove with respect to many things. The work at the Centre continues to increase year after year which has put more work onto the host couple. In the past it has often been a couple of retirement age with Ed & I being the youngest couple there has been. Some days I don't feel so young, especially after a full day of cooking and providing breaks, etc for seminars.

The directors position has evolved as well where the director is expected to wear many hats. Before long they will start to look for the future host couple (to start 2010) as well as the future director (summer 2010). Your prayers are greatly appreciated with respect to the future applicants for these two positions.

Julian Alps and Vintgar Gorge

The Martens had to take off for Germany as they were flying out of a different airport than us so we were on our own the last day. We took a drive through the Julian Alps (named after Julius Caesar) and a walk through the Vintgar Gorge, both fairly close to the Lake Bled area. Here we are at the summit of Vrsic Pass of the Julian Alps. On the way we passed through what was once a leading winter resort and still a popular place with Croatian skiers and saw the worlds biggest ski jump. They still hold the ski-flying world championships every year.
A shot of Mount Triglav. We drove back to the Lake Bled area to the entrance of Vintgar Gorge. We got out of the car and paid a few Euros to walk along the wall of the gorge for about a mile.
These pictures just don't do it justice. The water was so crystal clear and the color was the most beautiful blues and greens.
There are a lot more pictures of this gorge with waterfalls, etc but it would take up too much room!
It was really a peaceful, awe inspiring walk. This was nature at it's best.

Lake Bled

After two days in Piran on the Slovenian coast, we drove north to Lake Bled. This is a glacier fed lake that had the most beautiful blue/green water. I love this picture. It just looks very serene.
These boats were available to take a ride to the church on the island out in the lake.
This is the castle on Lake Bled that over look the lake and the surrounding terrain.
One of the many pictures we took of the area around Lake Bled from the castle.
Ed soaking in the view of Lake Bled.

A Drive into Croatia: The village of Rovinj

The day after we checked into our hotel in Piran, Slovenia we took a drive into Croatia since it was so close. Since Croatia is not yet part of the EU, (set to join in April 2009) they have different currency and we had to go through border patrol. The patrol was very relaxed and Croatia didn't even stamp or look in our passports. Croatia's currency is the Kuna. I took out 300 Kuna at an ATM which amounted to about 45 pounds or roughly 75 to 80 dollars. We passed vineyards along the way to the coastal town of Rovinj (roh-VEEN) heavy with fruit. They were in the middle of harvest. That was fun to watch.
Here is the village of Rovinj. That's Weldon taking in the view. The upper part of the coastline which also includes Slovenia was a part of Venetian rule for 5 centuries. So the area has a lot of that influence. All the guide books say it's very Venetian. I've not been to Venice but it does look like the Venice you see in movies and pictures. I was able to see Venice from the bell tower of the church we climbed up in to using the telescope.
A bountiful fruit and veg market.
This is a typical street throughout the village. Vehicles do go through these now and then. We had to plaster ourselves up against the wall one time to let a mini van through.
This is an artists studio. When you look through the door you see the sea through the window.

Piran, Slovenia

These pictures are a bit out of order. The blog is "acting up" and they don't appear as I thought I had them. From our hotel, there was a nice path that followed the coast line into the town of Piran. We walked through narrow lanes with 3-4 story houses and stores on both sides with laundry hanging out and flowers draping over the window boxes. When we rounded a corner this is the large plaza that unfolded. Evidently the harbour, which is just beyond in this picture, used to come into this area (the part that now has the shiny surface). But they said it always smelled too bad so they had it filled in. Since it was Sunday evening and a bit past the tourist season, things were slow. But it was beautiful all the same. This was one of Jenny's favorite places.
Here is a view of the plaza from the church courtyard. You can see the harbour beyond.
Weldon and I are in the church courtyard looking over the town. Weldon is consulting the ever useful 'Rick Steves' Croatia & Slovenia guide book. It was very useful. I highly recommend the Rick Steves' books for travellers.
This is the path we walked along to get to the town.
Well it's not a Kansas sunset but it was pretty all the same.

Seminar at The London Mennonite Centre

On Saturday we had our first Autumn Cross-Currents seminar. These are one day seminars that are at the Centre which most have an Anabaptist related topic to them. This one was called: Walking Alongside: Alternative Methods of Nonviolent Accompaniment in Israel/Palestine. Three different organisations sent a representative to talk: 1) Christian Peacemaker Teams 2) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine Israel & 3) International Solidarity Movement.

Things went very well but I was tired after a day of cooking and serving food. It's good to meet the people putting on the seminars as well as the participants.

John and Naomi Lederach from Goshen, IN are here for three weeks to do a project for the LMC. It's been nice having them here. Naomi was one of my nursing instructors at Hesston College and we had several classes under John at Hesston.

The next few blog entries will be more of our trip to Slovenia.

From Vienna, Austria to Piran, Slovenia

After a day and a half in Vienna, we caught a train (with only 30 seconds to spare!) and headed south to Slovenia. Here's Weldon & Jenny relaxing. They were slumming it with the Shirks as they had a rail pass that was good for first class but we didn't so they decided they wanted to talk with us on the six hour train trip so they came down in the world to coach.
Here is some of the beautiful countryside we saw on the train ride. I'm not sure if this is Austria or Slovenia. Both are very green with lots of mountains.
After arriving in Ljubljana, Slovenia, we took a bus to the airport, rented a car and drove to the coast to a Hotel just outside of Piran.
Here is Hotel Fiesa where we stayed for two nights.
Here is one of the fishing boats right outside of our Hotel. We were right on the coastline. We could hear the lapping of the waves all night long. That makes for great sleeping.